This present invention relates to a new and distinct, tall (or climbing) variety of hardy and well branched type plant of the miniature rose class. This new variety was created by James A. Sproul at his nursery in Bakersfield, Calif., under conditions of careful control and observation, as a result of crossing the following two rose plants:
The seed parent is ‘MACminmo’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,319).
The pollen parent is ‘JACpoy’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,015).
The objective in making the cross for ‘SPRolife’, was to get a more exciting coloring on a disease resistant, striped mini climber than the coloring of ‘MACminmo’. The seed parent, ‘MACminmo’, has above average disease resistance and flowers with red white wide and narrow stripes and flecks borne in pyramidal clusters and flowers averaging 14 petals. It is a miniature shrub with arching canes. The pollen parent, ‘JACpoy’, is a yellow and orange-red blend, cluster-flowered, compact rose of the miniature class with good disease resistance to powdery mildew and rust.
The present invention, ‘SPRolife’, has striped flowers, borne in clusters on long arching canes, similar to its seed parent, ‘MACminmo’, and with similar flower form. New foliage appears “bronze colored” but not as dark as that of the seed parent, with some light green showing through. The coloring of the flowers of ‘SPRolife’ is red and white with the red being closer to and the same as the orange-red found in ‘JACpoy’, rather than the red of its seed parent.
Another trait of this new invention is related to the clusters. In spring, there are more clusters on this new invention, similar to its seed parent, ‘MACminmo’, with many having 20 and more flowers per cluster. Repeat blooming of the plant is in clusters that may be in pyramidal form as found on ‘MACminmo’ but more of them having only 5 to 7 flowers, as is more common to ‘JACpoy’.